NEW DELHI, Sept. 12 (Xinhua) -- Indian Defense Minister Nirmala Sitharaman has decided to hold meetings with chiefs of the Army, Navy and Air Force and the defense secretary daily to ensure quick decision-making in her ministry.
"Daily morning meetings with the three services chiefs and a separate daily meeting with the defense secretary have been formatted as a new practice for quick decision-making," the Indian Defense Ministry said in a statement late Monday evening.
With the chiefs of Army, Air Force and Navy and the defense secretary, Sitharaman "will review defence preparedness and allied issues of strategic interests," the statement said.
Previous defense ministers met the chiefs of the three armed forces once a week.
The defense minister will also hold meetings of the Defense Acquisition Council, the highest decision making body on defence procurement, once every two weeks. Earlier the Council met once per month.
Sitharaman formally assumed charge as India's first full-time woman defense minister last Thursday.
"I will be the defense minister round-the-clock," 58-year-old Sitharaman said after taking over from her predecessor.
Spelling out her priorities, the defense minister said she would ensure armed forces preparedness, speedy implementation of defense deals and defense production with focus on Prime Minister Narendra Modi's "Make in India" initiative.
Sitharaman was elevated as defense minister, one of the top four ministries, in the last cabinet reshuffle by Modi earlier this month. She was earlier India's commerce minister.
Though she is the first full-time woman defense minister, Sitharaman is, however, the second woman to hold charge of the ministry since Indira Gandhi, India's first woman prime minister who had held the defense portfolio for some time.
